Seastones

Last updated
Seastones
Seastones.jpg
Studio album by
Ned Lagin
ReleasedApril 1975 (LP); re-released 1991 (CD); 2018 (two CDs)
RecordedFebruary 1975
Genre Electronic
Length44:40 (LP); 73:39 (CD); 111:00 (two CDs)
Label Round, United Artists (LP); Rykodisc (CD); Ned Lagin (two CDs)
Producer Ned Lagin

Seastones is an album by American composer and musician Ned Lagin.

Contents

In 1975 Lagin released the quadraphonic album of electronic music, (composed between 1970 and 1974), a small part of the complete Seastones composition, on Round Records [1] and then United Artists Records. [2] A new, two-CD album of Seastones was released on March 8, 2018.

Composition

Lagin composed Seastones over the course of five years. It was recorded and mixed in just as many studios, and mastered at a sixth. Much of the album consists of electronically processed traditional instruments and voice, and a cadre of synthesizers (a custom E-mu Modular Synthesizer controlled by and processed through then-cutting-edge computer technology, with software patches and compositions by Lagin; an ARP 2500 and ARP 2600; and a Buchla Modular System). [3] The early computers employed by Lagin included an Interdata 7/16 computer with a high speed arithmetic logic unit and magnetic core memory; an Intel 8080 microprocessor system built by Lagin; and at the beginning of 1975 an Altair 8800. The computer-controlled systems was designed and built for group live performance, with the performers' instruments and voices routed through analog and digital synthesis and processing hardware. Seastones was one of the first commercially released recordings to feature the use of digital computers, and Lagin was the first to perform on stage live with computers. [4] It was also a very early instance of multiple musicians' audio and control signals being interconnected before MIDI. [5]

Production

The album was mixed in quadraphonic sound, released in quad-encoded stereo, and featured guest performances by members of the Grateful Dead, including Jerry Garcia playing processed electric and pedal steel guitars, and voice; Phil Lesh playing electronic Alembic bass; and Mickey Hart on processed percussion. David Crosby (processed voice and electric 12-string guitar), and members of the Jefferson Airplane Grace Slick (processed voice), Spencer Dryden (processed percussion), and David Freiberg (processed voice) also appear on the album. [6]

Seastones was re-released in stereo on CD by Rykodisc in 1990. The CD version includes the original Round Records nine-section Seastones (42:34) from February 1975, and a previously unreleased, six-section version (31:05) from December 1975. Both are partial versions of the full composition, which has not been released. Other unreleased Lagin Seastones-related compositions from the same period include L and Make a Cat Laugh. [5]

A new, two CD album of Seastones was released on March 8, 2018. This album, not a re-issue, presents most but not all of the composition as originally composed but never released or heard before. For this release, Seastones was re-mixed and re-mastered in stereo. [7] It includes most of the original 1970–1974 studio forms, those parts of Lagin's concurrent but unfinished composition L that are shared with Seastones, as well as some of the moment forms generated and incorporated into the composition from live performances that took place from 1973 to 1975. This two CD album contains 83 tracks (54 tracks on CD One and 29 tracks on CD Two) and altogether is 111 minutes long. [8]

Live performances

Ned Lagin performed versions of Seastones with Phil Lesh and with other members of the Grateful Dead at 23 Grateful Dead concerts between June 23, 1974, in Miami, and October 20, 1974, in San Francisco. These took place typically between the first and second sets of the regular Grateful Dead shows. At some concerts, Seastones would form an entire set, and at other shows it would segue into Grateful Dead songs such as "Playing in the Band" or "Dark Star". [9] [10]

There were five live performances of Seastones that occurred outside of Grateful Dead shows: November 28, 1973, June 6, 1975, September 19, 1975, November 15, 1975, and November 22, 1975. [11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]

On Allmusic, Steven McDonald said, "In short, Seastones is electronic music of the best kind — a shifting sonic landscape out of which the strangest things may emerge." [12]

Personnel

Musicians
Production

Related Research Articles

<i>American Beauty</i> (album) 1970 studio album by Grateful Dead

American Beauty is the fifth studio album by rock band the Grateful Dead. Released November 1, 1970, by Warner Bros. Records, the album continued the folk rock and country music style of their previous album Workingman's Dead, issued earlier in the year.

Ned Lagin is an American artist, photographer, scientist, composer, and keyboardist.

<i>Infrared Roses</i> 1991 live album by Grateful Dead

Infrared Roses is a live compilation album by the Grateful Dead. It is a conglomeration of their famous improvisational segments "Drums" and "Space".

<i>Grayfolded</i> 1994 live album by Grateful Dead

Grayfolded is a two-CD album produced by John Oswald featuring new edits and re-mixes of the Grateful Dead song "Dark Star". Oswald used a process he calls "plunderphonics" to edit fragments of over a hundred different performances of the song, recorded live between 1968 and 1993, to produce two new versions of the song each lasting about an hour.

<i>The Grateful Dead Movie</i> 1977 rock concert documentary by Jerry Garcia, Leon Gast

The Grateful Dead Movie, released in 1977 and directed by Jerry Garcia, is a film that captures live performances from rock band the Grateful Dead during an October 1974 five-night run at Winterland in San Francisco. These concerts marked the beginning of a hiatus, with the October 20, 1974, show billed as "The Last One". The band would return to touring in 1976. The film features the "Wall of Sound" concert sound system that the Dead used for all of 1974. The movie also portrays the burgeoning Deadhead scene. Two albums have been released in conjunction with the film and the concert run: Steal Your Face and The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack.

<i>Blues for Allah</i> 1975 studio album by Grateful Dead

Blues for Allah is the eighth studio album by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded February 27 – May 7, 1975, and released September 1, 1975. It was the band's third album on their own Grateful Dead Records label and their third studio album in a row. Blues for Allah was the group's highest-charting album until 1987's In the Dark, reaching No. 12 during a thirteen-week stay on the Billboard Album Chart.

<i>Steal Your Face</i> 1976 live album by Grateful Dead

Steal Your Face is a live double album by the Grateful Dead, released in June 1976. It is the band's fifth live album and thirteenth overall. The album was recorded October 17–20, 1974, at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom, during a "farewell run" that preceded a then-indefinite hiatus. It was the fourth and final album released by the band on their original Grateful Dead Records label. The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack, a second album from the same run of shows, was released in 2005.

<i>Two from the Vault</i> 1992 live album by Grateful Dead

Two from the Vault is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on August 24, 1968. The event was left unreleased for nearly 25 years, before being mixed down from the original multi-track reels and released on Grateful Dead Records in 1992.

<i>Lotus</i> (Santana album) 1974 live album by Santana

Lotus is a 1974 live album by the Latin rock band Santana, recorded at the Osaka Kōsei Nenkin Kaikan, Osaka, Japan in July 1973, during their Caravanserai Tour. The Welcome album recording sessions were completed shortly before this concert, and that album was later released in November. Lotus was originally released in 1974 as a triple vinyl LP in Japan only. This version of the album was later released internationally.

<i>Ladies and Gentlemen... the Grateful Dead</i> 2000 live album by Grateful Dead

Ladies and Gentlemen... the Grateful Dead is a four-CD live album by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded at the April 25–29, 1971 shows at the Fillmore East in New York City. Some songs on the eponymous live album Grateful Dead were recorded at these shows as well. The album, released in October 2000, was certified Gold by the RIAA on January 6, 2002. Unlike Dick's Picks, Road Trips, Dave's Picks, and certain other of the band's archival series of live album releases, which are simply two-track stereo recordings made from the soundboard during the concert, the shows on Ladies and Gentlemen were recorded on a 16-track multitrack recorder and were mixed down to stereo just prior to the album's 2000 release.

<i>Dicks Picks Volume 8</i> 1997 live album by Grateful Dead

Dick's Picks Volume 8 is the eighth live album in the Dick's Picks series of releases by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on May 2, 1970, at Harpur College in Binghamton, New York. It was released in mid-1997.

<i>Dicks Picks Volume 12</i> 1998 live album by Grateful Dead

Dick's Picks Volume 12 is the 12th live album in the Dick's Picks series of releases by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on June 26, 1974, at the Providence Civic Center in Rhode Island and on June 28 at the Boston Garden.

<i>Dicks Picks Volume 31</i> 2004 live album by Grateful Dead

Dick's Picks Volume 31 is a four-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on August 4 and 5, 1974 at the Philadelphia Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and on August 6, 1974 at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was released in March 2004.

Biomusic is a form of experimental music which deals with sounds created or performed by non-humans. The definition is also sometimes extended to include sounds made by humans in a directly biological way. For instance, music that is created by the brain waves of the composer can also be called biomusic as can music created by the human body without the use of tools or instruments that are not part of the body.

<i>Crimson White & Indigo</i> 2010 live album by Grateful Dead

Crimson White & Indigo is a live album by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia on July 7, 1989. The album consists of three CDs, plus a video recording of the same show on one DVD. It was released on April 20, 2010. The video was produced and directed by Len Dell'Amico.

<i>The Warner Bros. Studio Albums</i> 2010 box set by Grateful Dead

The Warner Bros. Studio Albums is a box set of five vinyl LPs by the rock group the Grateful Dead. It is a reissue of their first five studio albums: The Grateful Dead (1967), Anthem of the Sun (1968), Aoxomoxoa (1969), Workingman's Dead (1970), and American Beauty (1970). These albums were originally released by Warner Bros. Records. The box set was released by Rhino Records on September 21, 2010.

<i>Daves Picks Volume 2</i> 2012 live album by Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks Volume 2 is a three-CD live album by the band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on July 31, 1974, at Dillon Stadium in Hartford, Connecticut. It was released on May 1, 2012.

<i>Daves Picks Volume 17</i> 2016 live album by Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks Volume 17 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on July 19, 1974 at Selland Arena in Fresno, California. It was produced in a limited edition of 16,500 numbered copies, and released on February 1, 2016.

<i>Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, CA 11/10/1967</i> 2016 live album by Grateful Dead

Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, CA 11/10/1967 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. A three-disc vinyl LP, it contains the complete concert recorded on November 10, 1967 at the Shrine Exposition Hall in Los Angeles, California. It was released by Rhino Records in January 2016, in a limited edition of 6,700 copies. Unlike Dick's Picks, Road Trips, Dave's Picks, and certain other of the band's archival series of live album releases, which are simply two-track stereo recordings made from the soundboard during the concert, the show on the album was recorded on an 8-track multitrack recorder and was mixed down to stereo just prior to the album's release.

<i>Daves Picks Volume 34</i> 2020 live album by Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks Volume 34 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on June 23, 1974, at the Jai-Alai Fronton in Miami, Florida. It also includes a fourth, bonus disc recorded at the same venue the previous night. It was released on May 1, 2020, in a limited edition of 22,000 copies.

References

  1. ↑ Seastones at the Grateful Dead Family Discography. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  2. ↑ The Deadhead's Taping Compendium, Volume II: An In-Depth Guide to the Music of the Grateful Dead on Tape, 1975–1985 – by Michael M. Getz, John R. Dwork, Henry Holt and Company, New York; 1st edition (August 2, 1999). ISBN   0-8050-6140-1
  3. ↑ Prendrergast, Mark (2000). The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Trance – the Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age . Bloomsbury Publishing. pp.  244. ISBN   1-58234-134-6.
  4. ↑ Douglas Kahn, "Between a Bach and a Bard Place: Productive Constraint in Early Computer Arts" in MediaArtHistories, edited by Oliver Grau, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2010. pg. 441. ISBN   978-0-262-07279-3
  5. 1 2 Ned Lagin interview with David Gans, August 2001 in: Gans, David. Conversations with the Dead, The Grateful Dead Interview Book, Da Capo Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2002. pp. 343–389. ISBN   0-306-81099-9
  6. ↑ "Grateful Dead Biography", Rolling Stone . Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  7. ↑ Ned Lagin. "Seastones". The new two CD set presents most but not all of composition as originally composed. For this release, Seastones has been re-mixed and re-mastered in stereo, and includes most of the original 1970–1974 studio (core) forms.
  8. ↑ Ned Lagin. "Spiritcats store". Seastones is now available in a 2 CD set (83 tracks, 111 minutes) re-mixed and re-mastered with never before released music.
  9. ↑ Seastones entry in Deadlists http://deadlists.com . Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  10. ↑ "1974" entry in "NedBase" http://nedbase.blogspot.com/ . Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  11. ↑ Seastones entry in The Compleat Grateful Dead Discography http://tcgdd.freeyellow.com . Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  12. 1 2 McDonald, Steven. Seastones at AllMusic . Retrieved June 23, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.